Perhaps you’ve recently inherited some family heirlooms, or maybe you’re simply downsizing and need to make some room in your home, and you’ve decided storing some of the precious to priceless antiques is the best option. Improper care before storing away these exquisite pieces can lead to ruined and de-valued antiques. We’ve put together some tips in order to make sure your collectibles stay in tip top form during moving and storage.

Choose the Best Storage Space

A number of factors need to be considered before choosing which storage space to be rent. First and foremost is climate. Ensure there are heating and/ or air-conditioning available to store your items between 50-80°F. High humidity environments can be controlled with a dehumidifier; failure to do this can result in mold, mildew, paper rot, and metal corrosion. If you know the local climate is bound to fluctuate dramatically over time, talk to your storage facility manager about ways to achieve environment control for the protection of your art.

In case you plan to sell your antiques that are stored, or may want to swap them out for pieces in your home, accessibility is highly important—more than simply for convenience. Moving from home to truck or truck to storage unit provides the highest risk for damage. First level ground units and drive up units reduce this risk. Be careful, however, as this may affect the degree of environment control you can have on the unit. If you do decide on a unit on a higher level, ensure the storage space has an elevator.

Security is another impactful consideration. Look for a storage unit that has high fences, good lighting, surveillance cameras and keypads. Fingerprint readers are becoming more common for high value storage spaces to help limit the number of people who can access the storage facility.

All of this considered, you may be looking at a higher cost storage facility, but considering the items you are storing are irreplaceable and possibly priceless, it is worth paying more to know they will not be damaged or stolen.

How to Pack Your Antiques for Storage

There are number of precautions you can take to ensure your items stay pristine while packed away:

• Coat leathers in a leather conditioner to ensure they don’t dry out.
• Put a little oil on any metals to keep them from rusting.
• Cover upholstered items in plastic coverings or sheets. Some storage spaces have large plastic bags for this purpose.
• Disassembled large, heavy items, such as armours with mirrors or beds with headboards and keep the small pieces labelled and bagged together. This keeps the hinges and connectors from collapsing under the weight over time.
• Wrap items such as lamp bases and shades separately and be sure to remove light bulbs.
• Spray wood furniture with a good furniture polish.
• Invest in good book covers to keep pages from acid wear and humidity damage.
• Wrap dishes and glassware individually and fill boxes with foam pellets or bubble wrap.

There are number of ways to properly wrap framed pieces depending on the piece itself:

• Encapsulation with a polyester film is best for double sided pieces.
• A mat board with half face cover works well for single sided pieces.
• A covered window mat is great for more fragile items.
• A solander box or deep sided storage box are also efficient.

Make sure to put your items on top of a pallet as it allows for better air circulation. Also, ensure framed items such as mirrors are not stored flat or they are able to collapse in on themselves.

Insurance

Last but not least, if these items are important enough to store, than they need to be insured. In some cases they may be covered under your homeowner’s or renter’s insurance, or a simple additional endorsement to cover the value of the items may be needed. Separate self-storage policies are also wise and affordable.

Be sure to keep a full inventory with proper assessments of value and photographs of each of the items in the storage unit.

More questions about storing your antiques? Let us help keep your valuables safe and contact us at Big Box Storage.

Storing electronics is a task that requires more planning than the average mover estimates. To help ensure your electronic equipment is safe while getting it from A to B (or in order to keep it stored away for a long period of time), we’ve put together a step by step list of details you should be considering when locking away electric household items.

1. Our number one concern is possible damage during the moving and storing times. Wiping down and cleaning your equipment to remove all dust is highly important. Dust and dirt on the electronics can lead to scratching surfaces and clogging air vents. Dust particles can also hold-in heat and humidity and create static electricity. The static electricity your socks make on the carpet can create up to 12,000 volts when you touch a grounded metal object; it only takes 4,000 volts to completely ruin a piece of electronic equipment. Again, make sure your equipment is clean and dust-free before packing it up.

2. Remove all cords and cables. Having these pulled out accidently in the process of packing can cause unfixable internal damage in a socket or outlet. Wrapping these neatly and labeling them also makes future set-up much more efficient. Also be sure to take out any alkaline batteries.Batteries left in devices can corrode and leak potassium hydroxide which will crystalize and cause permanent damage.

3. If available (and it is wise to keep this available) re-pack in its original packaging. These made-to-fit packing materials are designed to keep items static and moisture free. If you don’t have access to the boxes and foam it came in, wrap it in a cotton sheet or towel. Doing this keeps items secure in the box and also prevents dust from building up over time. In the case of glass items, use bubble wrap to prevent breakage. For a more eco-friendly option, shredded paper works very effectively, and can also be used fill in the empty spaces in the boxes to keep electronics secure. Avoid wrapping items in plastic—this can lead to damage from moisture build-up and cause mold and mildew to grow.

4. Spend plenty of time choosing the right place to store your electronics. Temperature and humidity controlled environments are the best, like the warehouse used to store all the Big Boxes.Electronics preferto be stored in temperatures between 50-80° F. If your electronics are stored in below freezing conditions, leave them to warm up for 48 hours before attempting to turn them on. If you try sooner than this, you could end up with moisture damage from the condensation. If you are unable to find a climate controlled storage room, storing the electronics with a dehumidifier to ensure the moisture stays off the equipment is highly recommended.

5. Consider transporting electronics in a car instead of a truck or van, if space allows. They are less likely to get thrown around on the journey and won’t sit in an uncontrolled climate for longer periods of time.

6. Lastly, spending some time prepping boxes before stacking them will not only keep them safe during the storage time, put also make it safer when it comes time to remove them from storage. Labeling boxes keeps electronic equipment from getting moved around too much when trying to dig out the piece you want. It is a massive time saver and can keep equipment that doesn’t need to be moved from getting accidently dropped or shaken in the process. Also, be sure to stack the heaviest items on the bottom and the lightest on the top.

If you have any more questions or need more details about how to clean, pack, or stack your electronic equipment, contact Big Box Storage and we’ll be happy to provide you with details.

Remember our best price guarantee if you’re looking for San Diego Storage!

Selling your home? Need to stage it?

Ever thought of this little tip….

If you’re in the process or soon to be in the process of staging your home so that your home is de-cluttered and presents well to prospective homebuyers, perhaps you should consider using portable storage during the home staging process.

What does portable storage have to do with home staging you ask?

Well, many individuals that stage their homes are forced to “de-clutter” them first. This involves removing items from the home so that more space is created and the home appears neat and tidy and in general, just presents itself better to prospective homebuyers.

If a home is cluttered with items, even if a home is larger in square footage, it can actually make a home look much smaller than it is. Further, real estate experts also state that it’s a good idea to remove many of your personal items (family photos, hobby related items etc…) from the home, so that it’s easier for the prospective buyers to envision themselves in the space. So that being said, where do you place all of those items that you removed from your home? Many individuals use self-storage and that’s where portable storage comes into play.

The use of portable storage during the home staging process proves to be quite convenient. One of the most convenient features of the portable storage service during the staging process is the ability to have the items that you’ve placed into storage, delivered to your new home.

Should you elect to use conventional storage, you would need to load a truck with your items, drive to the storage facility and then unload the truck. Once your home sells, you would need to repeat that process all over again. With portable storage, you simply load the portable storage container(s) once, a driver picks up the container(s) to place the container into storage, and then when you sell your home and move into the new one, your items are then delivered to your new home. Now that’s convenient!

Here are some compelling reasons that you may want to stage your home and prep it for sale.

1- Get top dollar for your home– A well-staged home is aesthetically pleasing. Everything looks inviting, comfortable and simple. It elicits a strong emotion from buyers.

2-Sell your home faster– Statistics say that homes that are staged, sell 43% faster than homes that are unstaged.

3-Your home will appear larger- Homes that are staged appear larger and flow better. Your home will be more appealing to buyers.

4- First impressions- You only have one chance to make a first impression. Take advantage of every selling opportunity you have. People will only walk through the home once in most instances.

So if you’re selling your home and you’re considering staging your home, you may want to consider the portable storage service versus traditional self storage (assuming you have items to place in storage).

Good luck with the sale of your home!

Using portable storage for short and long distance moves?

Many people are still unfamiliar with the portable storage service, referred to also as ‘mobile storage’, as an alternative to traditional self-storage. That being said, it’s probably safe to assume that even less individuals are aware of the fact that you can actually use the portable storage process for cross country and local moves. So how does the portable storage moving process work?

If you’ve ever moved (whether it be a local move or a long distance move), you are obviously familiar with the moving steps.

Step 1. If you don’t have an appropriate vehicle (such as a van or pick up truck) you’ll have to rent a truck, borrow a truck or hire someone that has a truck. This is assuming that you have larger items that won’t fit into a car (in most instances, people that are moving, will have larger items such as furniture, appliance Etc., so a larger vehicle will be required)

Step2. Once a truck has been secured, you’ll then have to load your items into the truck.

Step 3. Once the truck is loaded, you’ll then need to drive the truck to your new location

Step 4. Once you have arrived at your new location, you’ll then to need unload your belongings from the truck.

Step 5. Once the truck has been emptied, you’ll then have to return the truck to the place you rented it from or the person you borrowed the truck from. Steps 2-5 are assuming that you haven’t hired a mover of course. Otherwise, a few of the mentioned steps are removed from the process.

Step 6. Once you’ve dropped the truck off at the rental place or the person’s place you borrowed the truck form, you’ll then need to find a ride home from the drop off location.

With the portable storage approach to moving, not only are you able to eliminate most of the above steps that are associated with a traditional move, but the portable storage moving service is also much more convenient and less stressful. Let us do the driving!

With portable storage, a large container or containers are delivered right to your driveway (our Bigbox containers measure 8 feet long, 5 feet wide and 7 feet tall), you then load the containers up with your items and then we return to pick up and deliver the container(s) to your new residence. Once the storage containers are unloaded, we then return to pick up the empty containers.

It’s truly that simple!

Further, if there are any items you want to leave in storage, you can simply load up a container designated for storage and we can place that specific container or containers in our storage facility. Many of our moving customers downsizing from a larger home to a smaller home, take advantage of our storage options as well.

For more information about BigBox’s aggressive shipping rates and shipping destinations, visit the Long Distance Moving section on our website.

To schedule a move, contact one of our representatives or use our convenient online scheduling tool.

Two great services, one great company!

How did self storage start?

Although self-storage is primarily a US based business, there is evidence that self-storage was publicly available in ancient China. It’s been said that approximately 6,000 years ago, the Chinese would often store their possessions in clay pots in public underground storage pits. The storage pits were supervised, to ensure that nobody could remove any pot or its contents except for their own.

In the 1850s, the storage business came to America with the creation of Bekins, which was founded by Martin Bekins, son of a Dutch immigrant. Bekins recognized the new migration of Americans to the west, and was the first to build a facility for the storage of household goods and valuables. In 1906, Bekins built the first reinforced steel and concrete warehouse inLos Angeles, and the second inSan Francisco. It is interesting to note that during the great earthquake of 1906 inSan Francisco, this warehouse was one of the few structures that did not collapse.

However, the Collum family is credited by some, for the creation of the first modern self-storage facilities, which began to appear in 1958 in Fort Lauderdale Florida. There are also claims that self-storage originated in Texas in the 1960’s. Apparently, in Texas, they just decided to build several garages in a single day. They were able to rent them out, so they continued to build more and more. Other people caught on and did the same. At the time, the units were built as prefab tin garages and built on infill sites or among drive-in movie theaters.

The big national players in the self-storage industry arrived on the scene in the early 1970’s. Public Storage, Shurgard and Storage USA. Why did self-storage start to become so useful in the 1970’s? Were people over accumulating? Was it because of the rise in divorce levels at the time, aided by the emergence of “no-fault divorce” laws, which suddenly had more households in transition? Whatever the reasoning, self-storage facilities continued to be built at a steady pace nationwide.

Here’s where the self-storage industry stand today:

• There are over 50,000 self-storage facilities in the United States
• The average storage facility has approximately 566 storage units per facility
• The average square footage of a storage facility in the U.S is approximately 51,119 sq.ft.
• The average storage unit size is approximately 90 sq ft.
• U.S self Ðstorage facilities are mostly ‘Mom and pop’ operated stores
• 172,000 people are employed within the self storage industry
• There is 2.3 billion sq ft of rentable storage space in the U.S
• 1 in 10 people use self storage in the U.S

There continues to be a strong demand for the use of self-storage facilities and with more and more individuals choosing apartment living versus living in a house, there seems there will always be a need for self-storage facilities.

It was a tough week for many families throughout San Diego. People throughout the county were forced to evacuate their homes as the San Diego wildfires raged through their neighborhoods. One of our employees, along were her family, was included in the group of evacuees. Although the fires continue to burn, today’s cooler weather and high humidity appears to be helping the stong efforts of fire fighters.

If you were forced to relocate as a result of the fires and find yourself with a car stuffed with your home goods, please give us a call. We’re happy to provide you with a month of free storage. Regardless of where you are in the San Diego County, we’ll also waive any delivery fees associated with the delivery and pickup of the “Big Box” to/from your location. Just give us a call at 800-391-4890.

Best wishes to everyone impacted and a big thank you to all of the fire fighters and first responders.

$6 billion dollars. Based on reports from the National Retail Federation, that’s the amount that Americans will spend on holiday decorations this year. While Christmas decorations make up the majority of the amount, other holidays such as Hanukah, Halloween, 4^th of July, St. Patrick’s Day and others also contribute.

For many decorators, the question of where to store the decorations after the particular holiday becomes quite an issue. Devoting a substantial part of their garage, closet, condo, or house to the storage of the items can be problematic as space in most homes is already limited. Big Box Storage offers an ideal solution for those holiday revelers. As is the case with many existing customers, you can have a “Big Box” storage unit dropped off at your home once you’re ready to put your holiday decorations away for the year. Unless you’re an “extreme” decorator, your decorations should fit into one Big Box as they each measure 8’x 5′ (7′ tall). Once delivered, simply pack the decorations into the storage unit. The, once you’ve finished, a company driver will come back and pick up the Big Box and transport it to the company’s secure storage center in San Diego. The delivery and pickup is provided free of charge and the monthly rent is only $59. Additionally, when next year’s holiday season comes around, simply call Big Box Storage and have your rented Big Box re-delivered for immediate access to your decorations. Again, the delivery and pickup would be provided at no cost. An organized holiday helps to make a happy holiday.

Schedule a Big Box delivery online and save $25 instantly. Happy Holidays from the staff of Big Box Storage.